Cheers & Jeers

Treasures that washed ashore this week; flotsam we hope the next tide carries away:

Treasures that washed ashore this week; flotsam we hope the next tide carries away:

Lead by example

The superintendent of schools in Sandwich needs to attend a leadership training seminar. Oh wait, the school system can't afford it.

But that didn't stop Supt. Mary Ellen Johnson, who makes $152,000 a year, from selling back 15 of her vacation days at a cost of $10,363 to taxpayers. Her contract with the school department allows her to either roll over unused vacation time or get paid for it. Johnson gets 30 vacation days per year and up to four personal days.

To show some context, the Times' Upper Cape bureau chief, George Brennan, reported that the Sandwich town administrator only gets 25 vacation days and up to three personal days, but he can't buy back any accrued time until he is either fired or resigns.

Although Johnson declined a raise last year, her additional pay this year comes as the school district is cutting 20 positions.

When Chrysler went bankrupt in 1980, CEO Lee Iacocca said leaders need to share the pain in a crisis. In that way, employees will do almost anything to help the cause. That's a leadership lesson lost on Johnson.

Vatican culpability?

When the pedophilia scandal rocked the Catholic Church in the U.S. in the 1990s, there were those who tried to pin the problem solely on the American hierarchy, such as Cardinal Bernard Law and others.

But now, as the crisis deepens in Ireland, Germany and elsewhere, it is clear the sex-abuse scandal infects the universal church. Bishops and cardinals around the world were part of a conspiracy to hide and move pedophile priests from parish to parish — all to protect the reputation of the church at the expense of helpless victims.

Pope Benedict XVI last Saturday rebuked Irish bishops for "grave errors of judgment," but he once again failed to mention any Vatican responsibility.

Three Irish government investigations have documented how thousands of Irish children suffered rape, molestation and other abuse by priests, nuns and brothers. Irish bishops did not report a single case to police until 1996 after victims began to sue the church.

Officials in Ireland have faulted Rome for sending confusing messages to the Irish church about how to handle the cases. Then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now the pope, instructed bishops around the world in 2001 to report all cases of abuse to his Vatican office and keep them under pontifical secret.

Now we learn that while he was archbishop of Munich, Ratzinger approved therapy for a priest suspected of molesting boys. The priest was then transferred to a job where he later abused more children.

Like a good foot soldier, Ratzinger's vicar general has accepted full responsibility for the transfer, but it's clear that this sorry, worldwide scandal has poisoned the highest offices of the Vatican.

Alternative school revenue

Lawmakers are considering the idea of school bus advertising in Washington, Ohio, New Jersey and Utah. Advertising is already allowed in six other states.

Why not Massachusetts?

Of course, the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood opposes the plan, but that horse left the barn years ago.

Others argue that bus ads are rarely as lucrative as the school district expects, they may lead to accidents, and keeping unwanted ads off buses may not be as easy as people think.

Well, why not at least explore what kind of revenue they could generate? As far as what kinds of ads may be inappropriate, let's cross that bridge when we get to it. Finally, no accidents tied to bus advertising have been reported.